‘Suicide Squad’ Undergoes Expensive Reshoots to Make it More Fun

When the Suicide Squad trailer was released, most remarked at how fun it looked in sharp contrast to the bleak, dark world of Batman vs. Superman. Fans connected to it immediately in a very big way; to this day the Suicide Squad trailer has about 15 million more views on YouTube than the Batman vs. Superman trailer, which came out over a month earlier. But, it may have all been a clever trick of editing. It turns out the movie was not as fun or funny as you might have expected and now, according to reports, Warner Bros. has sunk a lot of money into expensive reshoots to help lighten the tone of the DC Cinematic Universe.

According to Birth Movies Death, all the jokes or levity that you see in that first Suicide Squad trailer consisted of the entirety of all the jokes or levity that you’d see in the whole film. Namely, the film really isn’t as fun as the trailer would have you believe. Given that, and the critical response to the distinct lack of fun in Batman vs. Superman, the site reports that Warner Bros. is currently spending “tens of millions” to “alter the tone of the film” and bring some humor to the goings on. Before you get too concerned, they’re not looking to turn Suicide Squad into Deadpool, just that they’re “beefing up fun character moments and interactions.”

Now reshoots on a big superhero movie are not uncommon, nor are they anything to get worked up about; almost all blockbuster films have them baked into their original budget before filming even begins. But, these Suicide Squad reshoots are a different animal. For one, they’re abnormally expensive compared to most reshoots. For another, they’re in reaction to something that happened after they wrapped shooting, including something that has been playing out over the past few days. Its a proactive reaction to both the response to the trailer and the response to Batman vs. Superman. Normally that would be concerning, but this looks like something that could actually very much improve the film.

We’ll be honest, the Suicide Squad trailer looked great. It was like DC’s answer to Guardians of the Galaxy. Even after Batman vs. Superman, we’re still excited for Suicide Squad, and if it can match the tone of that trailer, all the better. And if Warner Bros. is this aware of the perceived “lack of fun” in the DC Cinematic Universe, perhaps it could permeate to a number of their other franchises. James Wan has already said publicly his Aquaman will be more fun, and both Zack and Deborah Snyder (his producer wife) have said Justice League won’t be as dark as Batman vs. Superman.